University of Groningen

The University of Groningen has a rich academic tradition dating back to 1614. From this tradition arose the first female student and the first female lecturer in the Netherlands, the first Dutch astronaut and the first president of the European Central Bank. Geographically, the University is rooted in the Northern part of the Netherlands, a region very close to its heart.

Mission

The University of Groningen is an ambitious international research university with strong roots in the north of the Netherlands. The University creates and shares knowledge through outstanding research and education, and thus benefits society.

The Groningen Centre for Law and Governance (GCLG) and the University of Cape Town collaborated with the Global Land Tool Network and True Price to convene the fourth annual colloquium on Expropriation Law in Cape Town. The annual meetings of this project concentrate on narrowly defined aspects of expropriation, and facilitate discussion amongst international academics and other experts on shared issues in Expropriation Law. The project gives delegates the opportunity to participate on the global platform, alongside leading scholars in the field of expropriation law.

Biofuels investment projects in Maforki and Bureh Kasseh Maconteh (BKM) Chiefdoms in Port Loko District, Sierra Leone are contributing to food insufficiency, undermining the productive capacity of small-scale farmers, and increasing economic hardship in what is an already poor and food insecure district. The land lease agreements facilitating the biofuels projects have caused and compounded a complex range of problems for communities affected, including negative impacts on food, education, and economic hardship.

The Organising Committee of the Dutch Land Governance Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue has commissioned an investigation into the need and possibility to develop a protocol on fair compensation in cases of legitimate land tenure changes, with a focus on expropriation. This is in line with the Ministry’s role in the Land Governance Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue. This dialogue involves government, civil society, business, finance and academia.

How to manage China’s farmland for sustainable development has become a crucial issue of concern for both policy-makers and the wider public. Rural land acquisition has been widely recognized as a complex process of managing conflicts among stakeholders, which has been a major constraint to equitable development and good governance.

Zambia recognizes two types of land tenure: customary and leasehold tenure. While historically the majority of land in Zambia has been held under customary tenure, leases (also called leasehold titles) are the only legal means of holding land rights. In 1995, a new Land Act was passed, which makes it easier for investors to acquire leasehold titles to customary land. When an investor obtains a leasehold title to customary land, the customary land reverts to the state once the lease expires and is thereafter governed by statute.